EIHRA Executive Officers

President

Emily Bertino Honings

Emily serves as the Director of Human Resources for Guaranteed Rate Affinity, a joint venture partnership between Anywhere Real Estate Inc. and Rate, one of the United States’ largest mortgage lenders. Prior to her HR experience, Emily was a people leader in the fashion industry for 10+ years, working for retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Tory Burch. Emily has an Executive MBA from the University of Hawaii, a Master of Human Resources Management from the University of Southern California and is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt-certified through Purdue University. Emily was also recently named one of ‘The Top Women Leaders of Iowa’ for both 2023 & 2024 by ‘Women We Admire’.

President-Elect

Lucas Sperfslage

Lucas serves as a Human Resources Manager for the City of Marion, bringing nearly seven years of HR experience to his role. He began his HR career as a Human Resources Business Partner with Tata Consultancy Services and has since developed expertise across multiple facets of the profession. Lucas earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Iowa and achieved his SHRM-SCP certification in April 2024. Outside of work, he enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, exploring the outdoors, and seeking out new adventures.

Past-President

Sarah Brown

Sarah is currently the Human Resources Director at Kirkwood Community College and has worked in various Human Resources roles for ten years. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a MBA- HR emphasis from Upper Iowa University. Sarah received her Society of Human Resource Management, Certified Professional in 2018. In 2020, Sarah was a recipient of the Corridor Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award and has a passion for the corridor region. Sarah is married and has three children. She loves spending time with her family, dogs, friends, reading and being active with fitness.

Treasurer

Barb Schulte

Barb is the Sr. Manager, Human Resources with Kinze Manufacturing, Inc. and previously worked in the healthcare industry for 20+ years, starting in the finance department and transitioning into the HR Manager role where she built the HR department.  Her passion in HR is strategic planning, developing systems and programs, analytics, compliance, and training.  She has been a member of EIHRA since 2013, is SPHR and SHRM-SCP certified and has been on the EIHRA Board of Directors as Treasurer since 2020.  She has lived in the Cedar Rapids area for most of her life and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.

Secretary

Melinda Pollmeier

Melinda is the Director of Human Resources at Area Substance Abuse Council in Cedar Rapids. The majority of her 15+ year HR career has been spent working with non-profit social service organizations ranging in size from 100 – 1,000 employees. This, along with experience as outsourced HR and a large insurance company has provided her with a broad knowledge of HR and Benefits, though her favorite work is with employee relations.  Melinda has a BS in Psychology from Iowa State and an MBA from Upper Iowa University, along with the PHR and SHRM-CP designations.  Originally from SE Iowa, Melinda and her husband have lived in multiple locations in Iowa and Illinois and moved to Cedar Rapids in 2017.  She likes to use her PTO to take cruises and go camping. In her other free time, she enjoys reading mysteries, buying too craft supplies projects that will likely never be finished, and attempting to train their four-legged puppy roommate. Melinda is looking forward to contributing to the EIHRA group and meeting other area professionals.